breaking down barriers. ministers at the apec summit agreed to end restrictions on the trade of environment-related goods. welcome to nhk world "newsline." members of the asia-pacific economic cooperation forum are making it easier to buy and sell technology that generates renewable energy. foreign and trade ministers from 21 economies are meeting in vladivostok in russia's far east. they've agreed to reduce tariffs

on a host of environment-related products. nhk world has the latest from vladivostok and in an in-depth look at how russia is expanding its footprint in the asia-pacific region. >> reporter: they've released a communique after the second day of talks. they have agreed to reduce tariffs on 54 environment-related products, not only solar panels but wind-powered technology and machines that convert waste into energy. the discussions on this topic took more time than expected. china's delegates initially opposed the agreement over fears the import of solar panels from abroad could hinder their domestic industry. ministers also agreed to combat trade protectionism. they say low economic growth means it's even more urgent to keep markets open.

russian leaders trying to use the apec summit as an opportunity to show their economic focus is now on asia. the country's reserves of natural gas and crude oil amongst the largest in the world. nhk's vladivostok bureau chief yuseki tamara shows us how the russians are trying do even more here in the gateway to asia-pacific. >> reporter: the crude oil terminal was built three years ago on the outskirts of vladivostok. more than ten surround the port each month. last year, over 15 million tons of crude oil were exported from here to ten countries in the asia-pacific region, including japan, the united states, and singapore. there are large oil deposits in

eastern siberia. most of the crude oil exported originates in this area. during the soviet era, the oil fields of western siberia were the center of oil production. however, after nearly 40 years of productivity, they will soon be depleted. to take their place, production has been stepped up in eastern siberia. one of the oil fields now being developed by russian oil companies is this oil field, the size of switzerland. it was first discovered during the soviet era. at that time, there was no way to transport the oil, so it was left untouched for nearly 50 years. >> translator: currently, we

have five tanks with the capacity of 3,000 cubic meters. one for processing, four for storage. construction recently began for two tanks of 10,000 cubic meters. >> reporter: for decades, the population of the local village has been falling. there were no jobs. the oil field development prompted the population boom. it's also brought new infrastructure to the village. >> translator: the number of children has increased. and there are too many to enter our kindergarten. more people are getting married and having babies. we're seeing many new families. >> reporter: at one time, transport of the region's crude oil was handled in part by the

trans-siberian railway. but by december of this year there will be about 4,700 kilometers of pipeline directly connecting the oil field to the port, more than doubling the export capacity. this oil field attached until now will soon be going online. oil companies think that the rise in crude oil exports will boost the economy of russia's far east which remains underdeveloped. >> translator: the two-headed eagle on the russian coat of arms symbolizes looking to both the east and the west. russians are now starting to look at asia more seriously than ever before. >> reporter: for russia, east siberia's mineral resources are a treasure trove.

developing the oil fields in its far east region, russia has arrived as a full-fledged member of the asia-pacific region. yusuke kamamura, nhk world. >> nhk world's hideo joins us now. he's the moscow bureau chief. so, russia seems to be trying to forge stronger links to asia by using its abundance of oil and gas. what does russia hope to gain by rapidly shifting its energy strategy from west to east? >> diversification of the energy market is very important to russia. 90% of its energy export so far have been going to europe. but europe has a debt crisis. european countries are seeking cheaper energy from other sources. so the russian government has a new plan to target asia. it's an attractive and growing

market. by 2020, russia wants to increase its share of export of crude oil to asia by three times. >> is russia trying to exert more influence by using its energy oil and gas and by becoming -- sorry, becoming more stable supplier of energy? >> i believe the country wants to use its energy leaders to boost its regional influence. russia has had little to bargain with until now. its influence weakened since the end of cold war. but the asia-pacific has become the engine of the global economy. russia can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines. russia aim to use energy as a tool to negotiate on equal footing with china, the u.s. and japan over politics and security

issues as well. >> thank you hideo. the leaders of the apec members have started to arrive in vladivostok for a weekend summit. on friday president vladimir putin will give a speech at business forum. we will hear what he has to say about his policy on -- towards the asia-pacific. we also focus on china's increased economic presence in the far east. >> nhk world's karao nagao in vladivostok. delegates at democratic national convention have nominated barack obama for a second term as u.s. president. the stage is now set with the showdown with republican challenger mitt romney in the november election. >> ladies and gentlemen, i have been informed that barack obama is now our party's official nominee for president of the

united states of america. >> before the roll call, former u.s. president bill clinton took the stage to make his case for why voters should give obama another term. >> i want -- i want barack obama to be the next president of the united states. and i proudly nominate him to be the standard bearer of the democratic party. >> clinton praised obama for his efforts to revive the economy. he said the president stopped the nation's slide and put the u.s. on the road to recovery. he also said republicans are asking voters to fire obama even though the previous administration left a mess that's not yet completely cleaned up. clinton said people who envision a country of shared prosperity and shared responsibility should vote for obama.

the president is set to accept the nomination in a speech on thursday to wrap up the convention. controversy has hit the convention over a back flip in the u.s. democrats party platform. members have voted to reinstate language declaring jerusalem the capital of israel. it's an apparent effort to appease jewish voters. >> president obama recognizes jerusalem as the capital of israel, and our party's platform should, as well. >> the democrats made the decision on wednesday after coming under fire from jewish voters for leaving the wording out of their new platform. four years ago, the democrats acknowledged jerusalem as israel's capital. president barack obama, whose re-election in november needs the support and huge donations of the pro-israel lobby, reportedly intervened and ordered the glat form revised. many delegates to the convention angered the party bowed to

outside pressure. israel seized east environment during 1967 war and declared the city its capital. but palestinians claim it as the seat of their future independent state. the european central bank has set a new fols purchase the sovereign bonds of spain and other european nations saddled with huge debt. ecb policymakers discussed the plan on thursday. ecb president mario draghi held a news conference after the meeting. countries in need of help must make certain commitments in restoring their nation's fiscal health. the policymakers also decided to keep the key interest rate at a record low of 0.75%. the ecb cut the rate in july to support the region's ailing economy. a new breakthrough in genome

research could change our understanding of the human body and the treatment of hundreds of diseases. our international team of scientists announced its discovery on thursday about our so-called genetic control panel. researchers at the encyclopedia of dna elements or encode project found some 80% of the genome triggers biochemical functions. it was previously thought only some 2% played such a role with the rest being so-called junk dna. by geneticalliy is subsequencing 147 types of cells, the team tried to identify the function of each part of the genome. they found at least more than 80% of it performs biochemical functions such as switching on a gene to produce a protein at an appropriate time and location. japan's researchers from the state-backed institute say further study may lead to the discovery of new medicines and treatments for diseases caused by abnormal protein production. such illnesses include cancer

and dementia. tokyo electric power company officials will provide more video showing how they dealt with the aftermath of the nuclear accident at fukushima daiichi. they recently released a shortened version of intense teleconferences over their first five days. members of the public and the media criticized the partial disclosure. tepco spokespersons say they will release video recorded in the month after the disaster. the utility already disclosed 150 hours of video of teleconferences between its tokyo head office and the plant. tepco banned the media from making copies. the new video documents the days when tepco engineers had problems securing twurt school spent fuel rods at fukushima daiichi. this reignited fears of further nuclear fallout. japanese leaders also approved the unannounced release of low-level radioactive water into the ocean during this time. that prompted criticism from

neighboring countries. tepco spokespersons say they will partially edit the new video despite calls for full disclosure. they have again cited the need to protect their employees' privacy. the fukushima accident prompted people in japan to rethink their dependent on nuclear energy. they have held discussions, protests and public forums about how they should power their country. the di og continued thursday in tokyo at an international conference on renewable energy. nhk world's chia yamagishi takes us there. >> reporter: japanese i.t. tycoon has been driving force behind this symposium. song is the president of the mobile phone company softbank. his foundation organized the meeting. he's been calling for japan to replace nuclear power with renewable energy since the fukushima daiichi accident. >> translator: japan has enough

technical ability to use natural energy and has resources for wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower generation. >> reporter: about 600 people attended the symposium, including researchers, members of the business sector and the representatives of energy -- >> translator: the natural energy market is stoat have growth potential so i came to gather the latest information. >> translator: i want to learn more about renewable energy and whether it's possible to use it to replace nuclear power. >> reporter: it is possible. as officials from countries such as germany and denmark showed. they talked about how they developed renewables in their countries. at another session, participants from asian nations, such as south korea and mongolia,

exchanged opinions on how countries in the region could benefit from an international grid to trade electricity. >> east asia is already connected by an undersea communication cable network. this shows that a supergrid is not an impossible scenario. >> reporter: japan has been slow to expand its renewable energy sector. before the fukushima accident, nuclear power provided about 30% of the country's electricity. renewables accounted for around 10%. the japanese government is aiming to increase the supply of renewables so that they provide more than 25% of the country's electricity by 2030. national policy minister motohisa hirokawa spoke at the symposium about what he called a

green energy revolution. >> translator: we must create a new society with an aim to stop depending on nuclear power which poses a risk of serious accidents that can force people to stay away from their homes for years. >> a recent poll suggested more than half of japanese agree. and want their government to abandon nuclear power. if the government invests in the necessary technology, the timing could be right for the new age of renewables. chie yamagishi, nhk world, tokyo. the japanese government is growing more assertive about its territory. officials of the land ministry say they will acquire new patrol vessels and helicopters to strengthen security of japanese waters. the decision comes after the recent landing of chinese activists on the senkaku islands in the east china sea. china and taiwan claim the

islands. the ministry plans to fund the equipment through a $130 million request in next fiscal year's budget. the deployment will consist of four 1,000-ton patrol ships and helicopters for the coast guard. the coast guard also aims to fit patrol boats with the latest video transmission equipment. the system will allow coast guard headquarters to immediately analyze images of suspicious vessels. every three years, a major arts festival is held in nigata prefecture. this year one of the events was staged in an area known for its heavy snowfall. it was a dance with a difference. >> reporter: winter in niigata. the snow is deep and the plows have plenty to do.

but in the heat of summer, it's unusual to see snow plows in action. least of all performing ballet. american artist came up with the idea. she was inspired to create this ballet as she was fascinated by the unusual shapes of the snow plows. >> surreal. it's weird. and maybe shifting what you usually see. and i want to say to them, look at them. look how wonderful they are. >> reporter: 13 snow workers agreed to lend their operating skills to a performance of the tragic love story romeo and

juliet. >> translator: as long as our teamwork is good, we can evoke feeling even using machine. i hope the audience feels the emotion underlying this work. >> reporter: in ballet, the dancers have to be in harmony. but plow operators usually work solo. synchronizing the movements of their trucks doesn't come easily. >> translator: will it take long? >> translator: i'll do my best. >> reporter: through a process of trial and error, the drivers work on the choreography. the day of the performance arrives. about 300 people have come from across the country to see this unique performance. a snow plow ballet.

all their hard work and practice pays off. the movements of the machines are perfectly synchronized. the four-wheeled romeo and juliet take center stage. they express their love through the subtle coordination of their movemen movements. but the lovers are parted. love and sorrow, even though the dancers are just machines. the emotions are very real.

>> translator: they expressed complex emotion, human emotion. it was great. >> reporter: through the medium of dance, with humor, people are being inspired to look in a different way at the snow plows that are part of life in winter in the snow country. >> the snow plow ballet will be performs again on september 15th. spanish tv viewers can watch bull fighters on their screens again. the ban on showing the fights has been lifted. the previous socialist administration banned bull fighting on the public channel six years ago. politicians argued that the sport could have a bad influence on young children. but the current conservative government decided to give a boost to the declining sport. fans welcomed the lifting of the ban. they say the broadcasts will

help to protect spain's cultural heritage. but animal rights groups strongly oppose the move. they say killing bulls is animal abuse. spanish state tv plans to continue the broadcasts next year. and for an update on the weather forecast, here's mai shoji. mai? >> the story goes on with a thunderstorm event here in japan. across much of japan. but in lesser amounts. 50% of the country will be under the advisories of thunderstorms, especially in the afternoon and evening hours tomorrow on our friday. things will beering off across much of the northern regions but still in the western areas, we may see some threats of short time heavy rain. so southern bursts of about 60 millimeters in an hour type of rain will be found here yet again. today, the record-breaking 63 millimeters in an hour was recorded in fukui prefecture. and that will be continuing across much of the western areas

of japan. here over the yellow sea we have a low pressure system developing and that will be moving into the southern tip of southern -- south korea. and targeting the area with some hefty amounts of rainfall. that would then be moving towards the northeast direction covering hokkaido by the end of the weekend. so much of you in hokkaido in those vicinities do enjoy the weather while you can. northeastern china will be looking at things very fine and nice with warm temperatures as well. but central china, you'll be targeted with a series of low pressure systems developing over shangxi, hanan. 50 millimeters of rainfall in the next 24 hours. that is enough to trigger flooding. further flooding is of concern in northwestern thailand. we're looking at temperatures in bangkok at 29 degrees. so still a lot of the areas over towards the north heating up and also in manila, 32 degrees.

tokyo, 30 degrees. a little bit cooler than today but still very hot. ulaanbaatar, 21 for the high but the low again in northern mongolian regions could go down to about freezing point. let's now take a look at what's going to happen with that hurricane leslie. leslie is now moving at the speed of 2 kilometers per hour, really snail pace. and that means it's going to be lingering here for quite awhile before it makes the closest approach to bermuda. so storm swells and rip currents at the dangerous level will continue into early next week. we'll keep a very close eye on this system. the wind gusts are already packing up to 146 kilometers per hour. oklahoma city, 37 degrees here in the americas, but cold front will be sweeping in so dropping those temperatures down. especially in denver. by tomorrow, it's going to be a dramatic, significant drop. plummeting about 10 degrees. so about low 20s is what you'll be seeing. drastic temperature changes are

difficult for our bodies to cope with. so do be careful with that. but houston, i can't really say the same thing for you. you may see those temperatures rising to about 40 degrees into your weekend. all right. taking a look at what's going to be happening here in the european continent, things are finally going to be tapering off here in italy and in the balkans regions. out towards the north, northern british isles and scandinavian pence la, you'll be targeted with some wet and windy conditions. it's going to be an unstable weekend for you. but across much of the continent here in the central portions, looking at really nice temperatures here in paris at 26 degrees. that's actually going to be on the rise into your weekend. on sunday, you may see those digits in the 30s. madrid still in the 30s at 33 degrees. here's your extended forecast.

we'll be back with more updates in 30 minutes. i'm gene otani in tokyo.